


Imagine how the world could be, so very fine

by Kavi Leighanna (kleighanna)



Category: NCIS: Los Angeles
Genre: F/M, tumblr prompt fills
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-14
Updated: 2015-01-19
Packaged: 2018-01-19 09:15:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 4,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1463902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kleighanna/pseuds/Kavi%20Leighanna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tumblr prompt fills by fandom</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> inbelikovwetrust asked  
> Callen and Kensi -- "I knew it was a mistake to get the twins matching clothes." =)))

"We didn’t," he reminds her with a roll of his eyes. "Uncle Deeks did."

Kensi sighs as she looks down at the two infants. They’re on babysitting duty, a set of twins found with a myriad of bomb-making materials. Neither of them are really kid people, per se, but they’ve been lucky with these two, they’ve been generally good babies. They’ve been pulling double shifts with them for safety. And partnership. 

Never leave a fellow soldier behind and all that. 

"Which is which, do you think?" Kensi asks, tilting her head to the side. 

"Does it matter? They’re identical and not ours." 

That clenches her stomach for reasons she doesn’t understand. She doesn’t want kids, she’s never wanted kids. Not really and certainly not like this. Her job - and her lack of a partner to do it with - her attitude towards them… The whole thing is just a very, very bad idea. 

"They are kind of cute," she finds herself saying. 

"Aren’t all babies cute?"

Kensi’s shaking her head before he finishes speaking. “It’s like a hit or miss. You either get really adorable ones or really ugly ones. There’s no in between with babies.” 

"I can’t say I’ve thought about it."

She rolls her eyes. “Could you see me with a kid? I mean seriously.”

There’s a beat of silence that has her eyes swinging towards him.

"I could see it."

Her breath catches, maybe because of the quiet way he says it, maybe because, coming from him, it is surreal and off-putting. She tries to laugh and knows it doesn’t come out right. 

"My kid would know how to dismantle a gun by five," she says. "I’m not maternal."

Callen shrugs. “It’s not about being maternal,” he says, looking away and back at the twins. “You’ve never thought about camping trips? About showing a kid how to surf? How to survive the forest or the desert?”

"How to tune an engine." When he raises an eyebrow, she shrugs. "Thinking about it and doing it are two different things. I mean, I’ve made my choices, right? What we do, what we see…. It doesn’t exactly lend itself to this kind of thing."

Twin One - though they’ve given them temporary names like Teddy and Tim - chooses that moment to let out a cry and they both look to each other. It is Kensi who eventually steps forward, who lifts the crying baby into her arms. She shifts him, trying to remember all of the tips Sam had shown them about holding infants. 

"You seem to be holding up okay. No pun intended."

Kensi’s lips twitch, just a little as she looks down into the chubby face of their temporary charge. She lets out a sigh. “Maybe in another life,” she says finally. “But not this one.” 

They share a brief, telling look. They’ve made their choices, choices she’s pretty sure neither of them would change. But what that means is sacrifices everywhere else. Family, personal lives, friends… All of those things aren’t exactly in the cards for them. 

But Kensi thinks it’s probably okay. They make it work, their little makeshift work family. A bunch of orphans coming together. It’s not traditional, but it works for them, and Kensi can’t say she’d have it any other way. 

Plus, they don’t have any wailing infants. She counts that as a bonus.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dazzlingstarlight asked  
> Callen/Kensi, 'icing' after falling off the climbing wall during another competition with Hetty, and maybe a bubble bath.

Kensi hisses as Callen presses the ice pack against her knee. “Never again.”

He settles beside her on her couch, holding his own pack to his shoulder. “Agreed.”

"No, Callen. Seriously."

He nods, groaning as he shifts his leg funny. “Never, ever again.”

"Why did we let her do that?"

"We always let her do that."

"We need to stop."

"We can’t," he moans, trying to shift. And failing rather epically. "Ninja mind control."

"Oh," she acknowledges, half-breathlessly since she’s tried to curl her legs beneath her only to discover how stupid of an idea that had been. "Forgot."

"We always forget."

"That’s how we get like this."

"No more forgetting."

"No. Never again."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dazzlingstarlight asked  
> Callen/Kensi and Hetty's reaction to some security footage!
> 
> From "And O'er the Night" - missing scene-ish.

"Agent Callen, a word?"

Crap. 

He shouldn’t have come in. He’d known that even as he’d driven to the hacienda. But he’s still so unsettled, he’s still a mess. There’s so much going on, and he doesn’t quite know how to process it. Basketball hadn’t helped, he’d figured he’d come in, maybe do a bit of paperwork, try to get his mind off of it. 

"Hetty. Do you go home?"

"A manager’s work is never done, Mister Callen. Who knows what would go on around here if I was to disappear."

Well, he has to give her that. 

"Now. To business. With me."

Yeah, this isn’t going to be good. But he follows her up the stairs to the ops centre. The minute he steps in, he knows exactly what he’s walking into and winces. The damn camera, the one Kensi had warned him about. And with a nod, Hetty has one of the tech’s start the video. 

He remembers it pretty vividly, actually. He remembers the argument and even remembers the exact moment he’d known he was going to reach out for her. He remembers the tingle in his fingers, remembers the way it had crawled up his arm until he’d grabbed her. And he most definitely remembers every pleasurable second of that kiss. 

The the video stops and Callen turns to Hetty. 

"She’s not a case, Hetty. She’s entirely harmless."

He hates that little hum she gives, like she definitely knows that’s not true and he just hasn’t caught up yet. 

"Miss Blye aside," Hetty begins and really, it shouldn’t surprise him that his Ops Manager already knows who the woman is. Probably knows her entire backstory too, thing Callen himself doesn’t know. "You know the dangers of surveillance cameras, especially for these situations?"

"I’m not on assignment in the LA area. And it’s not like that footage is going to go anywhere."

"Of course not. Eric will be deleting it the moment he’s in the office. Her digital surveillance system should be a piece of cake for him."

He sighs. “Then why are you showing me this?”

Hetty shrugs, but he knows it’s not that simple. He knows that really, this has very little to do with getting caught on CCTV in a tiny coffee shop, kissing a woman. 

He huffs. She’s playing mind games. He hates it when she plays mind games. 

Now, to figure out what the hell is really going on.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dazzlingstarlight asked  
> Callen/Kensi and Tootsie Roll Pops and Twinkies!

"Are you cheating on me?"

Callen arches an eyebrow though he doesn’t move his eyes from their target. “You know I won’t ever have a partner as good as you.”

He knows Sam’s smirking, just a little, can all but feel it. “Yeah?”

Then comes the crinkling sound that does make him turn his head. Oh. He’d forgotten. He’d meant to clean out his car. Oops. 

"That’s nothing."

That smirk is still playing around the edges of Sam’s mouth. “It doesn’t smell like nothing.”

Callen snorts. “You can’t smell anything. It’s cellophane.”

"I can smell your Tootsie Rolls on my fingers for days."

"So stop making origami statues from them."

"But Deeks loves the way the frogs actually hop."

"Deeks? You sure I’m the one cheating?"

Sam chuckles this time. “You take her out to dinner too?”

"Just Twinkies," Callen retorts. "She’s easy like that."

There’s silence for a few moments after that and while Sam will never push, Callen also doesn’t want his partner coming to the wrong conclusion. 

"She had a bad night," he says quietly. 

"And you don’t sleep."

Callen shrugs, but it’s not as nonchalant as they both want it to be. Kensi’s been having a rough time since her return from Afghanistan, a really up and down kind of recovery. He doesn’t want to go so far as to say they should bench her, but when she calls him in the middle of the night, it kind of sets off more than a few radars. 

"Twinkies, Tootsie Rolls and the Hollywood Hills," Callen offers. "I meant to clean the wrappers out of the car." 

Sam nods and says nothing else. Callen thinks maybe there’s nothing left to say. 

"Do you think-"

Callen’s already shaking his head. They’ve missed her is the thing and he’s not willing to mess up the team dynamics again. Nell’s a good field agent, he’s not belittling her abilities, but she’s no Kensi Blye. 

"She’ll be fine."

Sam watches him for a minute, then nods slowly. “Of course she will.”

Because she has to be.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dazzlingstarlight asked  
> More prompts - how exciting! I'll try to send you another one. Are you still planning the C/K bubble bath? ;-) And YOU are a wonderful human being for writing all of these fun ficlets for so many different fandoms!

It’s been a really long day.

They have a lot of those. Like, a ridiculous amount. Sure, she understood that going in and yeah, it’s a terrorist thing, like, when do they take days off? But she’s feeling really worn down. 

Which, is kind of funny, actually. Her return from Afghanistan means a return to a lot of things she never had access to, and that includes a bathtub. Somewhere along the line, the fact that she hasn’t had one has turned into the fact that she now genuinely enjoys them. Complete with bubbles. 

And that’s where Callen finds her. 

He knocks on the door - and how polite, she thinks - and she calls out. 

"You good."

"Yeah," she breathes, stretching and feeling warmth envelop her limbs. "I am now." She pauses, just a breath. "You?"

"Yeah. You took quite the hit today."

She had, but it’s part of the job. Granted, it’s the first major hit she’s taken since her return (kidnapping, and all that, the tiny part of her mind informs her - like she could forget) so she’s not exactly surprised. 

"You sure?"

She sighs and rubs at her temples. “Better if you’d just open the damn door. This yelling’s not helping my head.”

He does, though he only cracks it, and she hears him slide down the wall. Opposite sides of the door, she thinks, which is both strange and comforting. She doesn’t feel so alone, but he’s not close enough to be stifling. 

"Concussion?"

"Nah," she answers, letting her eyes close. "Just a headache. It’ll pass. I’m fine, Callen."

"Like you were fine when we dragged you out of that hell hole in Afghanistan?"

"We talked about that."

"No, I talked about that. Hetty talked about that. Sam and Deeks talked about that. You don’t."

"Would you?" she shoots back. "It wasn’t exactly a carnival."

She hears the anger drain out of him with a breath. “None of us thought it was. Which is why I’m going to ask again: you good?”

She ponders for a moment, keeps quiet. Then she admits, “Hetty’s called Nate back from wherever he is.”

"Good," Callen says immediately.

Nate’s the closest thing to a psychologist that they’ll all talk to and while she’s pretty sure Hetty isn’t exactly pleased when she has to call him back to LA (and she’s probably super pissed this time because it’s mostly Kensi’s own doing), but they all know that Hetty only wants what’s best for each of them. 

"Don’t know when he’ll be back."

There’s silence, but she can hear the way his fingers are tapping an irregular rhythm against the floor. 

"Maybe we should put you back in ops."

She ponders that statement for a moment, chews on it a little, tries to make herself tuck away the hurt because it feels like there’s a trust issue going on here that she and Callen should not have. “Eric and I don’t really make good partners.”

"Kens-"

"Callen." There must be something in her voice, something solid and stern or something that makes him think that maybe she’s telling the truth, because he cuts off whatever argument he had been about to put forward. 

"I didn’t freeze out there. I didn’t put anyone in danger. Honestly, I’ve taken way worse than this. I’ve been shot at, exploded, threatened with radioactive materials, been stabbed-"

"I get it." 

She pauses again, thinks about her next statement. “I didn’t go through near as much as Deeks and Sam did a few months back. Trust me.”

"I do," he says. 

"Then I’m fine."

He doesn’t say anything for a few more minutes. Then, “You’ll come to me if you’re not?” 

It makes her smile, just a little. These glimpses of Callen, the real Callen, the one that actually cares, always make her mouth curve upward. 

"I promise."

"Good." Then, "You should probably get out soon. You’ll look like an old lady, then I’ll definitely have to bench you."

She laughs. And it feels good.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dazzlingstarlight asked:Is it okay if I also request Nell and Eric in a bookstore?

He legitimately trips over her. Full on head-over-heels-and-not-in-the-good-way trips over her. It’s not his fault, he thinks. There’s never anyone in the computer section. 

"You’re in my spot."

"I’m sorry?"

"My spot," he repeats, then waves his hand around. "This is my spot."

"This- The whole section?" 

He nods. 

"I’m sorry. Do you own this section?"

Oh. Oh. They’ve totally gotten off on the wrong foot because that is definitely not what he means. “Of course not. I just-“

"So how is it yours?" she barrels on. "If you don’t own it, how can it be yours?" 

He huffs. “No one comes here.”

"Oh, so this is about a woman in the computer section? Because that’s not insulting."

"No! No. It’s not that at all I just-"

"Can’t handle a female hacker? Can’t get on board that maybe someone with two ‘x’ chromosomes would be able to search out and destroy your entire credit history?"

He swallows. “No one ever comes back here.”

"You mean no woman."

"No, I mean no one. They stay out there." In the real world. Where there are people who just can’t seem to take him seriously or understand him or anything. He hates it. That’s why he hides back here. "You’re a computer geek?"

"I prefer the term gamer, if we have to have one," she says, but there’s a little upturn of her super-cute nose that makes him think gamer is an understatement for what she is. 

Turns out, while he’s already a magician at opening back doors into the fundamental network that is the internet, her knowledge of security protocol far outwits his. He thinks maybe one day, if they’re feeling ambitious and dangerous, they could, like, hack the FBI or something.

"I’m Nell," she finally says an hour later, when they’ve discussed the finer points of SSL and the ‘Heartbleed’ bug. 

"Eric."

(Turns out they do hack the FBI databases, like five years later, looking for some file or another. That’s when the tiniest, scariest woman - scarier than Nell - shows up at their apartment door and informs them they can go to jail, or they can work for some agency called NCIS.

They both choose the agency.)


	7. Medieval AU

When he arrives at the range for his early morning archery practice, he barely pays any mind to the man at the end of the aisle. He comes here for the solitude and it’s kind of obvious that he does too. He can respect that. 

Thing is though, after a while, the sheer number of bulls eyes the man’s managing draws his eyes. A sharpshooter. They don’t have those. There isn’t a single man in his force that can shoot like he can. He gravitates closer, watching the man’s concentration and his steady pull and release of every arrow. It’s breathtaking. 

"I’ve never seen a man shoot like that."

He gets a snort that’s almost delicate. It certainly doesn’t sound like a man’s snort. Okay, a boy then. A very tall boy. 

"Are you planning on joining the King’s Guard?" 

All he gets is a shake of the head as another arrow slices through the one prior. 

"We could use a man with your skills."

This time he gets a sigh and a second later, the boy reaches up and yanks back his hood. The long hair is too sleek to be a man’s and he gets a good look at delicate features and mismatched eyes. 

"Lady Blye!"

She rolls her eyes. “Kensi will do, Sir Callen.”

He actually gapes. It’s an expression unbefitting of his station, but he can’t help it. He’s seen this woman dance circles around men during royal balls and draw the eye of every knight in the realm and yet she’s here, putting arrow after arrow into the hay targets with startling and terrifying precision. 

"What are you doing here?"

She huffs. “Shooting things. Archery calms me.”

"But-"

"I am a lady yes. Hence." She waves at her long cloak and hood. "But sew and knitting? I cannot say I am particularly accomplished in these things."

"I don’t understand."

She huffs again. He doesn’t think it’s becoming. He really doesn’t. “God took my mother when I was young. Unfortunately for my father, she never bore him sons. I shot my first arrow when I was four.”

He is honestly beyond impressed. “And yet you are a lady of the court.”

Her smiles turns almost predatory. “My Lady found me defending myself against a man wishing to take my virtue. With a knife.” She pulls back her cloak and sure enough, there is a small dagger hanging from her belt. 

"You are a guard."

"I am a last resort," she replies, turning back to her bow. She notches another arrow and lets it fly, straight and true. 

"You are amazing."

It’s the first time her arrow flies offline and her eyes look as surprised as he feels. Her surprise turns to caution, however. 

"It is unladylike to use weapons."

"It is illogical not to use the skills of those within your realm to defend it, even if it is a woman that possesses such skills."

Her fingers play with the tip of her bow. 

He reaches out, cups her elbow. “Come to the range with the men. Shoot with them.”

"Sir Callen-"

"Please."

(She does and she shows up every one of his archers, her hair blowing in the wind. She doesn’t break stride as she shoots arrow after arrow into the targets, as his men watch, some in disgust and some in awe. She beats every challenger and never gloats. 

Later, he takes her for a walk around the gardens and listens as she explains the finer points of daggers. He thinks if this is what falling in love feels like, he understands why he’s lost so many men to the allure of a woman.)


	8. One night stand and falling pregnant

In hindsight, Callen should have been able to put the signs together. He’s not stupid and he’s damn well observant, but something, somehow, somewhere had left him overlooking huge signs. 

 

Like the first time Kensi actively avoided going into a house first. She loves going first, adrenaline junkie that she is, but right before the takedown he sees her awkwardly adjusting her vest. Then she’s at his side, asking quietly if he minds if she brings up the rear. He doesn’t, but he finds it weird. 

Or the way she doesn’t eat the whole box of her favourite donuts he brings on a stakeout. He keeps a close eye on her after that, finds her eating handfuls of nuts and fruit, yogurt and granola. Light meals, constant meals. He’s not dumb enough to ask her if she’s on a diet. 

What freaks him out is her exercise regime. She’s fastidious about it, anal, so he finds it strange when she passes on sparring with them. She won’t practice hand to hand, won’t go a round in their very makeshift ring. She switches to mainly yoga, breathing and meditation. Nell says they’re low impact exercises. Bells start ringing in his head. 

But he doesn’t put it all together until weeks later. They’re in the evidence lockers, digging up old cases. They’ve been pulling boxes for hours but he looks up to find her reaching for one, carefully balanced and  _sees it_. 

The curve. 

It’s not a curve he’s familiar with, intimately or merely because she’s a beautiful woman he works with every day. It’s a curve that when added to diet and exercise and the way he’d notice Hetty quietly checking in with her can only mean one absolutely terrifying thing. 

"You’re pregnant."

She stumbles, almost falls, and he barely gives thought to the evidence that tumbles around them both. He goes for her, steadies her with an arm as she catches her balance again. 

"Kens."

"Yes."

He swallows, thick and hard. He hates the next question he has to ask. “Is it-?”

His.

"Yes."

Unequivocal and he has never had reason to doubt her. 

He remembers that night. Well, that’s probably a generous word for it. He remembers flashes after they’d started in on the vodka. The anniversary of Dom’s death had hit Kensi hard. And then somewhere along the way they’d started losing clothes. He remembers flashes of her skin under her hands, her mouth against his, the taste of her sweat on her skin. They’d woken the next morning naked and together. 

And hadn’t talked about it. 

They were going to have to talk about it now. 

"Were you going to tell me?" 

"Yes," she replies and he doesn’t realize he’s still holding on to her until her hand squeezes his arm. "Callen,  _yes.”_

He’s surprised at the gust of air that he releases, like he’d needed that reassurance. He’s torn. It’s not like their lives are good for a kid, not like there’s actually any room in what they do and who they are for a child. 

He finds himself dropping to the chair trying to make sense of it all. He sighs and looks up at her, tries to keep his face clear of the fear, elation, concern…

"What do you think I want to do?"

Relevant point. How many months has he been watching these changes?

She settles herself against the table. “To be honest, I wasn’t even sure I’d make it to three months. The job we do really isn’t conducive to safe pregnancies and with all of my injuries…” 

She doesn’t have to go on. He reaches out for her anyway because he has never been good at leaving her suffering. He hates it. He’s always hated it. 

"I passed the three month mark last week," she tells him. "I was going to drag you out for lunch next week, tell you." 

"Hetty knows."

She snorts, inelegantly and so Kensi. “Of course Hetty knows.” She pauses. “Only Hetty knows.”

He’s not sure if he takes comfort in the knowledge or if that scares him even more. Sam needs to know. Deeks needs to know. She still goes into the field and if she’s concerned with carrying to three months, how the hell is she going to do the next six and-

"Don’t."

He looks up at her, tries to stop his spinning thoughts. 

"Don’t you dare."

Fierce eyes, deep frown. “You’re pregnant and-“

"Not incapable. Do not even think of benching me, oh my God."

He wants to laugh, can’t force it past his lips. He is terrified. So bloody terrified. His kid. Kensi’s choosing to have his kid. 

"I’m not supposed to be a dad."

"You think I’m going to make the greatest mom? God, Callen, you’ve seen my place."

That does make him snort out a little laugh and he finds himself so, so grateful for the levity. Her eyes are soft when he gets ahold of himself. 

"But I can’t say no to my chance."

No, he thinks. He wouldn’t ask her to. Not when he’s sure he can’t either. He finds himself reaching out for her, tugging her arm until she stands between his knees, until he is face-to-bump with his baby. 

His baby.

"Hey," she says quietly, catches his attention. "It’s up to you, you know? This kid. Entirely up to you."

It takes him a minute to puzzle through that, to realize she’s letting him choose how much time he spends with his kid. How involved he wants to be. And for a moment he thinks of running, fast and long and hard. But then he flashes back to a conversation about catch in the backyard and baseball games, to a teenager and a swing set. 

"However you’ll have me," he tells her. "Whatever you need."

And the warm richness of her eyes makes the fear absolutely worth it. 


	9. Their first hug and how it becomes normal

He’s not actually sure how it started. He is  _not_  a huggy person and he knows,  _he knows,_ he has never ever given off the vibe that he does. He’s never gotten it from his new agent either. She’s held herself strong, separate, aloof since starting at OSP. She has not blinked at a single damn thing they’ve thrown at her and when he reads her file he’s even more impressed. Female sniper. This girl. 

But then everything goes belly up.  _Everything_. His cover gets blown and there’s a shoot out, a bomb, the whole building going up and him just barely making it out. And his strong agent, the most badass woman he’s met since Tracy finds him across the most crowded street of neighbours and emergency personnel he’s never seen and runs right into him. 

"Shit," she says immediately, pulling back because of his injuries, but then she releases this choked up sound that he can’t place and wraps her arms around him again. "Shit, Callen."

And it hits him, hard and fast. Agent Blye, the scariest woman he’s met (after Hetty, because Hetty, well. Hetty is Hetty), is actually clinging to him like a barnacle. This woman who has been abandoned - because he is a damn good agent and that means he reads the files of his teammates - over and over and over again, and here he is, here she is, wrapped around him like she’d lost him and-

And then for Kensi, he becomes a hugging person. 

She initiates every single one of them. He lets her do that, but he never lets it go unanswered. When she opens her arms to him he goes and for the longest time he is absolutely not sure why. He is selfish, a lone-wolf and he is really, really bad at giving people pieces of him. Kensi, though. Kensi pulls it from him. Another broken agent, another person in his life that’s been dragged through the wringer and been brought out the other side. 

And then Afghanistan happens. 

He is not blind and dammit, he knows that there’s something with her and Deeks, but it isn’t Deeks that picks her lock the week after she returns. Her apartment is a mess - he’d known that, he’s always known that, this meticulously organized woman at work has a chaotic personal life and he is not blind to the metaphor, thanks - but she is curled into the corner, gun pointed directly at his forehead. 

"Shit, Callen." 

She’s said that to him, time and time again, usually when he’s gone and done something reckless and she feels like this little piece of her family is going to disappear or die or who the hell knows what else. But it isn’t those times he flashes back to. Instead it’s that first time she hugged him on a grimy, smoke-filled street all those years ago. 

So for the first time, he’s the one that opens his arms to her, that all but lifts her from the couch and tucks her into his side, swings her legs across his lap. 

She’s held him in the aftermath of so much, pulled him back to the team when he would have walked away and reminded him, sometimes painfully and violently, that this is a family now, his family and her family. The least he can do is hold her together for a few minutes. 

And if those minutes turn into hours and she falls asleep against him, he thinks that’s okay too. 


End file.
